Useful Asperger's Website?

Ouch!  I didn't notice the stuff about criminal inclination.  I should have checked it out more thoroughly before recommending.  It's just that I checked several of the information sheets and thought they contained useful information -  and as my course book recommended it, I thought it was worth drawing attention to it.

I take your point about 'disorder', though the term is so pervasive in discussions about autism (parts of this site refer to 'autistic spectrum disorders') that it's almost become inseparable from it.  My own diagnosis refers to 'ASD' and 'autistic spectrum disorder' - as do most of the books I've read.  But yes... 'disorders' and 'disabilities' are largely constructs of the society we live in, which is designed around the 'able' and 'ordered'.  This is why so much stigma abounds around autism and mental health.  I tend to think of it myself as my own form of order and ability, whether or not it's like the majority's.  I suppose the thing that still haunts me from my own diagnosis is that paragraph that states: The problems noted have interfered with the patient's life by causing depression, social isolation, difficulties at school and work, and an inability to attain life goals.  Looking at it another way, though - it's society that's failed me, rather than the other way around.

As for 'dysfunctional'... I suppose I've always (rightly or wrongly) thought of myself as 'dysfunctional' in terms of not complying with social norms. I certainly don't fit in with most of the people around me, and never have, and in that sense I've grown up with the feeling of having something wrong with me.  Again, though, this is largely about a social context.  In many ways, I see mainstream society as dysfunctional.  They pin that label on us, though, because we're in a minority.  That's how it always works, I suppose.  Humans love to categorise things, because it helps us to understand.  And it makes it easier to marginalise and victimise people. But it's lazy.  And I need to stop thinking about myself in those terms.

Anyway... I've edited the title appropriately.  People can make up their own minds, then.

Ouch!  I didn't notice the stuff about criminal inclination.  I should have checked it out more thoroughly before recommending.  It's just that I checked several of the information sheets and thought they contained useful information -  and as my course book recommended it, I thought it was worth drawing attention to it.

I take your point about 'disorder', though the term is so pervasive in discussions about autism (parts of this site refer to 'autistic spectrum disorders') that it's almost become inseparable from it.  My own diagnosis refers to 'ASD' and 'autistic spectrum disorder' - as do most of the books I've read.  But yes... 'disorders' and 'disabilities' are largely constructs of the society we live in, which is designed around the 'able' and 'ordered'.  This is why so much stigma abounds around autism and mental health.  I tend to think of it myself as my own form of order and ability, whether or not it's like the majority's.  I suppose the thing that still haunts me from my own diagnosis is that paragraph that states: The problems noted have interfered with the patient's life by causing depression, social isolation, difficulties at school and work, and an inability to attain life goals.  Looking at it another way, though - it's society that's failed me, rather than the other way around.

As for 'dysfunctional'... I suppose I've always (rightly or wrongly) thought of myself as 'dysfunctional' in terms of not complying with social norms. I certainly don't fit in with most of the people around me, and never have, and in that sense I've grown up with the feeling of having something wrong with me.  Again, though, this is largely about a social context.  In many ways, I see mainstream society as dysfunctional.  They pin that label on us, though, because we're in a minority.  That's how it always works, I suppose.  Humans love to categorise things, because it helps us to understand.  And it makes it easier to marginalise and victimise people. But it's lazy.  And I need to stop thinking about myself in those terms.

Anyway... I've edited the title appropriately.  People can make up their own minds, then.